Chandi Sukuh

Gunung Merapi or the fire mountain of Merapi, the live volcano can be seen across the fields as one cross Parambanan on the way to Candi Suku. It is a fully cultivated area with large population living close this volcano that is seen emitting smoke atleast for 300 days a year.

I couldn't resist posting these pictures before I went on to Candi Sukuh, considered the last of the Hindu temples in Indonesia. Candi Sukuh is not a popular tourist destination like Parambanan or Borobuder, the Hindu and the Buddhist temples in the province of Yogyakarta pronounced Jogjakarta.

This Mayan structure surprised me - wonder why is it called a Hindu temple? I couldn't find any literature or probably I haven't searched enough about how this structure came about much in contrast to the Trimurti temple at Parambanan and the Mandala kind of structure with Buddha at the centre and on top of that circumbulatory Mandala at Borobudur.

"Sukuh is one of several temples built on the northwest slopes of Mount Lawu in the 15th century. By this time, Javanese religion and art had diverged from Indian precepts that had been so influential on temples styles during the 8th–10th centuries. This area was the last significant area of temple building in Java before the island's courts were converted to Islam in the 16th century. The temples' distinctiveness and the lack of records of Javanese ceremonies and beliefs of the era make it difficult for historians to interpret the significance of these antiquities" is the Wikepedia entry quoting Josh Miksic's 'Java Indonesia'.

It is actually with a giggle that people around in Yogyakarta say "oh the Kamasutra" temple when you ask about Candi Sukuh. I was the second tourist for that day, a lonely woman traveller and didn't know who was the one before me from that ledger that I signed while entering. Around the ruins I noticed a Japanese lady and we tried to figure out why it is called a Kamsutra temple. There were no guides around and there was no way we could identify and intrepret the ruins scattered around. The only explicit sculpture we found was this one.

There is also an yoni sculpture and I can't find it among my pictures - I am doing this entry in 2012, almost four years after my visit. I also find references to part of the temple dedicated to Bhima and a sculpture depicting Bhima, Arjunad and Ganesha. But I have these pictures of Garuda and a tantrik relief bass from the ruins around.

I cannot get a straight image of this, but a similiar structure is shown by scholor Victor M.Fic in his book to be a structure of a womb and within it are place Bhima and Dewaruchi. It is a mysterious place and now I feel shouldn't have gone there if I was not seriously interested in studying and researching that place. Here is the link to the book I found online and the womb like structure. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=CFW1tNel8m0C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false



Adding a few more pictures from Candi Sukuh, a really cool, beautiful place surrounded by hills and plantations. You forget the fiery volcanoes in the cooler climes of Candi Sukuh.